Arsenal FC Sign Martin Odegaard From Real Madrid

Odegaard’s decision to move to the Premier League was aided by a chat with the Arsenal manager.

“I spoke to him (Arteta) before coming here, of course,” Odegaard told Arsenal’s website. “That was very important for me and he seems like a top manager and I liked his ideas, the way he sees football and also the way he is.

“He gave me a great feeling and that was important for me to come here. He was crucial.

“I think every time you go to a new place, you want to make sure that it feels good and that there is a plan. But I think everything here just seems good. I like the club and I always liked the way that the club wants to play. Everything about the club and now how the manager wants to play, I think it’s a club that really suits me well. So I think it’s a good match.”

Arteta said: “It’s great that we’ve secured Martin to come to us until the end of the season. Martin is of course a player that we all know very well and although still young, he has been playing at the top level for a while. Martin will provide us with quality offensive options and we’re all excited to be integrating him into our plans between now and May.”

Real Sociedad were keen on re-signing Odegaard following his season-long loan stint last year, but it is thought Real Madrid’s preference was to send him to a club outside La Liga.

Odegaard registered seven goals and nine assists across 36 appearances on loan at Sociedad last season, leading Real Madrid to cut short his two-year loan and make him part of their first-team squad.

A number of Premier League clubs were also interested in Odegaard, including Leicester, although the Foxes opted not to pursue the Norway international after preliminary discussions.